29 premises inspected, cop tells Nora Anne inquest

The Coroner’s Court in Seremban was today told that the Negeri Sembilan Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inspected 29 premises including private resorts for clues on the whereabouts of Nora Anne Quoirin who went missing on Aug 4 last year.

Ampang Jaya district police deputy chief Mohd Azam Ismail, the 14th witness in the inquest proceedings to determine the teenager’s cause of death, said seven villas at the Shorea Resort, near the Dusun Resort where Nora Anne and her family stayed upon their arrival in Malaysia on Aug 3, were also searched.

Police also inspected five private villas, four of which were occupied, and nine private premises and resorts of which five were occupied.

“We also inspected the eight villas at the Dusun Resort, including the one occupied by the resort owner,” he said in his testimony before coroner Maimoonah Aid.

When questioned by deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad about other instructions given during the investigation, Azam who was a staff officer at the state CID at the time, said his team was also told to interview the forestry department officers at the foot of Gunung Berembun for any indications on Nora Anne’s location.

“But we were informed that the missing person did not enter the area,” he added.

Azam said his team was also tasked with investigating the background of Nora Anne’s family members, as well as to profile witnesses including former guests, especially those who had stayed at the resort before the teenager went missing.

“The profiling included the family of the complainant,” he said, referring to Dusun Resort manager Haanim Ahmed Bamadhaj.

His team also profiled employees and former employees, locals who had been in the vicinity of the resort on the day Nora Anne went missing, and those who had stayed at the hotel.

He said the profiling was done as they had no other leads to follow.

“We made profiles of all the witnesses to get new information on them based on information such as criminal backgrounds and vehicle backgrounds.

“However, there was no indication (of new leads),” he said.

When asked by Maimoonah about the outcome of the investigation into Nora Anne’s parents, Azam said neither of them had criminal records.

The inquest proceedings ran from Aug 24 to 27 and from Aug 1 until today.

Fourteen of the 64 witnesses have been called to testify so far.

Nora Anne, 15, went missing on Aug 4 last year, a day after she and her family arrived in Malaysia for a two-week holiday at a resort in Pantai, about 60km south of Kuala Lumpur.

Nora Anne’s body was found nine days later on Aug 13, near a stream in a hilly area about 2.5km from the resort.

A preliminary post-mortem report found no criminal elements in her death. She was said to have died of gastrointestinal bleeding due to prolonged stress and hunger.

The proceeding has been adjourned to Sept 14.